Restoring Old Dirty Marble Countertop

QUESTION:

I have a marble countertop that has been stored for years in a shed. How do I clean it and disinfect it and make it shine?

ANSWER:

Well, it all depends on how dirty and damaged it may be.

Is it just surface grime or is it stained?

Is it shiny at all or uniformly dull?

If it's in bad shape, then professional restoration may be your best bet to get satisfactory results and really make the marble look as good as it can.

But if it was in decent condition before being stored, then you may get good results on your own.

Try This:

Use a strong cleaner that is also safe for marble like INTENSIVE Concentrated Tile & Grout cleaner.

Spray this all over and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Scrub it with a soft-bristle brush. Rinse.

Repeat until clean. If this doesn't get all the dirt and spots off, then you have embedded stains, which requires a multi-step method to remove.

For stains you'll find complete step-by-step instructions in the Removing Stains Manual.

Regarding the shine:

It's possible the marble was never polished to begin with. If so, then you won't be able to make it shiny. You'll need to hire a marble pro to re-finish the surface with special diamond abrasives.

This is a high-skill job. Not a DIY job and there isn't any chemical to apply to make honed marble shiny as if polished.


However, if the marble was polished at one time, but is just a bit dull now and/or has light spots called "etch marks" then you'll have a great chance at restoring the shine using a good marble polishing compound like SCP- Marble Polishing Paste.

You don't want to use this paste until after you have thoroughly cleaned the marble and removed all stains.

Also, you'll find the Cleaning Marble Secrets Guide very helpful.

It contains everything you should know about marble... how to protect, clean, maintain, repair and restore, etc. It provides step-by-step solutions to all maintenance issues (including the 'Removing Stains' above, so you don't need both).

Much more comprehensive and detailed than I can be here with product recommendations, etc.

Good luck and have fun with your project.

Ryan

P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions for any issue, problem or question with our Granite & Marble Maintenance Manuals.

I highly recommend Stone Care Pro Products to maintain all your marble, stone and granite countertops and floors in optimal condition. I've used other good products (Stone Tech, Miracle, MB) but found Stone Care Pro is the most reliable and effective and cheaper too!